Ralph Guzman

I appreciate Frank del Olmo’s tribute (Editorial Pages, Nov. 7) to the late Mexican-Americans, Ralph Guzman and Hank Lopez. Lopez I met once, briefly, during his run for statewide office in 1958. But I have followed Ralph Tuzman’s academic progress since the early 1950s.

When Ralph was appointed Provost of Merrill College, University of California, Santa Cruz in 1982, I wrote him a note of congratulations.

One part of Ralph’s reply is a footnote to his perseverance and a benchmark for minorities in higher education. “. . . Thank you for the confidence that you inspired in me as a student. I was so terribly alone at UCLA, one of five Chicanos in the entire student body. But I always felt welcome in your class.”

DAVID G. FARRELLY

San Clemente